Lunchtime Football Round-Up 7th June

Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis has claimed that Arsenal are now in the financial position to sign Wayne Rooney, meaning that the Gunners can offer over £20 million for a transfer fee, and then in excess of £200,000 in wages for the England striker. Although reports linking Rooney with Arsenal have been strong, Gazidid has insisted that he only used Rooney as an example. But Arsenal’s manager Arsene Wenger has already shown that he is a keen admirer of Rooney and will not pass up the chance to sign him if the opportunity came about

Napoli’s president Aurelio De Laurentiis has said that he expects to hold talks with Chelsea within the next week over a possible transfer for Uruguayan striker Edison Cavani. In recent months, the 26-year-old has generated a huge amount of interest from all over Europe from the likes of Real Madrid, PSG and Manchester City, just to name a few. According to De Laurentiis, Cavani will not be leaving the Italian club for anything less than his release clause, which is £53.5 million. So Mr. Ibramovich will have to dig deep into his pockets to secure this signature

Manchester United look posied to sign Uruguay U-20 international Guillermo Varela from Penarol, after the defender spent some time at the end of the season on loan at Old Trafford. Varela travelled to London yesterday, and is set to undergo a medical with the club today. The fee for the 20-year-old is believed to be around 2.8 million euros

Liverpool goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi has agreed to join Austrian side Red Bull, after his contract with the Merseyside club is due to expire in the summer. The 23-year-old joined the Reds initially on loan in 2007 from MTK, and then made the move permanent in 2008. But in his six years at Anfield, he failed to make a senior appearance

QPR chairman Tony Fernandes has claimed that he has not fallen out with manager Harry Redknapp over transfers. It had ben reported that Redknapp was considering his position at Loftus Road, after Reading hijacked their move for former Manchester City defender Wayne Bridge earlier on this week

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has warned striker Christian Benteke that it would be a huge gamble to move away from Villa Park in the summer. Since moving for £7 million from Genk last year, Benteke was one of Villa’s most influential players, after he struck 19 goals in his debut season in the Premier League. This has seen interest in the Belgian go through the roof, with the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal and Athletico Madrid all looking to sign the 22-year-old

New Everton manager Roberto Martinez is set to hold talks with Phil Neville, Alan Stubbs and David Weir about their futures at Goodison Park. All three of the men were interviewed for the job at Everton before Martinez was finally announced last week, but Martinez has said that he wants to keep as many of the current backroom staff as he can so the club can retain it’s current infrastructure

Nottingham Forest have signed striker Darius Henderson on a two-year deal, with an option to a further year after the 31-year-old initially joined Forest on a short term deal in Januray

Leyton Orient have signed goalkeeper Jake Larkins, following his release from Premier League side West Ham United

Goalkeeper Alex Cisak has left Oldham, after the club chose to not extend his contract by a further year